Combination concrete mixer and portable dispenser



Nov. 22, 1960 c. L. GRAYBILL 2,961,225

COMBINATION CONCRETE MIXER AND PORTABLE DISPENSER Filed Aug. 13. 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 0| y l l' 1 g l I s el l l g i B i 1 N CLINTON 1 GRAYBlLL INV ENT OR.

NOV. 22, 1960 C, 1 GRAYBlLL v 2,961,225

COMBINATION CONCRETE MIXER AND PORTABLE DISPENSER Filed Aug. 13, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 CLINTON L. GRAYBILL I INVENTOR.

BY A l Afr-'Y Nov. 22, 1960 c. L. GRAYBILL 2,961,225

COMBINATION CONCRETE MIXER AND PORTABLE DISPENSER Filed Aug. 13, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 CLINTON L. GRAYBILL INVENTOR.

United States Patent O COMBINATIN CONCRETE MIXER AND PORTABLE DISPENSER Clinton Lee Graybill, Superior, Mont., assignor to Graybill Industries, Inc., Spokane, Wash, a corporation of Montana Filed Aug. 13, 1957, Ser. No. 677,957

2 Claims. (Cl. 259-177) This invention relates to improvements in a combination concrete, mortar or plaster mixing machine and portable dispenser of the type shown and described in my co-pending application Serial No. 615,909, filed October 15, 1956, now U.S. Patent No. 2,859,950.

As therein ponited out, it is one of the principal objects of the invention to provide a combination of the character described wherein the mixing hopper and dispensing chute for its contents are mounted upon a wheelsupported chassis provided with handles and thereby readily portable in the manner of a wheelbarrow.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a wheel-supported chassis which is self-supporting in its entirety and capable of being moved rearwardly into positive operative engagement with a separately mounted power unit with a minimum amount of effort or particularly accurate guidance on the part of the operator and which can function properly and without binding even if some misalignment should occur in the approach of the mixing unit to the power unit.

Another object is the provision of a blade attachment for the mixing hopper to effect the proper mixing of mortar or plaster without sticking.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages which will subsequently become apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

Figure l is a side view of a combination mixer and portable dispenser made in accordance with my invention and with fragments broken away to disclose internal parts.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure l with the hopper removed.

Figure 3 is a sectional detail view on an enlarged scale taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a front view of the hopper showing a blade attachment for mixing mortar and plaster.

Figure 5 is a side view of the hopper showing a snapon gravel screen attached to the open end thereof.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 1 indicates generally a chassis comprising two longitudinal frame members 2 and 3 turned downwardly and rearwardly at their forward end and provided with a supporting wheel 4 and a dispensing chute 5. The frame members extend rearwardly downwardly as at 6, upwardly and inwardly as at 7 to provide supporting feet 8, then diverge rearwardly upwardly to provide two arms 9 and 10. The outer ends of these arms are secured as at 11 to handle-bars 12 whose forward ends are secured as at 13 to the frame members 2 and 3 and whose opposite ends terminate in handgrips 14.

Welded to the frame members between the inner end of the arm portions 9 and 10 and braced relative thereto as at 15 is a sleeve bearing 16 through which is "ice journalled a stub shaft 17 whose forward end is welded to the base 18 of a rotatable mixing hopper 19. By this arrangement the chassis, hopper and dispensing chute, hereinafter referred to as the mixing unit, are readily portable by means of the supporting wheel 4.

The rear end of the shaft 17 is provided with an outwardly ared socket 20 to accommodate a ball 21 formed on the forward end of a shaft 22 integrated with a collar 22A driven by power-transmission means indicated generally at 23, mounted upon a base 24 and driven by a prime mover such as an electric motor 25 also mounted upon the base. Welded to the collar 22A, extending forwardly therefrom and diagonally offset relative thereto is a clutch-arm 26 engageable with an anti-friction bearing 27 attached to the rearward end of hopper shaft 17 to impart rotation to the hopper.

Also secured to the base 24 is a vertical frame 28 having a top cross member 28A to which are welded two forwardly and upwardly opening clevises 29 and 30 each provided with a removable pin 31 suspended by a chain 32 secured as at 33 to the cross member 28A. Mounted to this cross member is a switch 34 actuated by a plunger 35 and in circuit as at 36 with the electric motor 25. Electrical current is supplied from a source, not shown, to the switch through conductors 37.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that upon backing the mixing unit into the power unit the upwardly and rearwardly diverging arm portions 9 and 10 of the chassis frame upon engagement with the clevises 29 and 30 will automatically cause the ball 21 of drive shaft 22 to become seated within the socket 20 with the antifriction bearing 27 now positioned in the orbit of rotation of clutch arm 26. It will be noted in Figure 2 that because of the location of the switch 34 the motor circuit will be automatically closed when switch plunger 35 is depressed by the arm portion 10 when it cornes to rest within the clevis 30. Operation of the motor and power transmission means 23 will, of course, put the clutch arm 26 into driving engagement with the hopper 19 through the medium of hopper shaft 17 and antifriction bearing 27. To automatically break the motor circuit it is merely necessary for an operator to grasp the chassis handles 14, lift up and wheel the mixing unit forward in the same manner as starting olf with a wheelbarrow.

When the hopper is to be used for mixing mortar or plaster l provide a mixing blade 40 removably secured at one of its ends to a bracket 41 by means of a pin 42. The blade extends inwardly lengthwise of the hopper in slightly spaced parallel relation -to the side wall thereof, then similarly along the bottom wall 18 to the center thereof where it terminates in engagement with a pin 43 secured to and extending upwardly from the bottom wall. The mixing blade is thus stabilized throughout its length and at both of its ends in resisting impingement of the hopper contents thereagainst. For stabilizing the mixing blade I provide a diagonal brace 44 Welded as at 45 at one of its ends to the mixing blade and removably secured at its opposite end to a bracket 46 by means of a pin 47. Both brackets 41 and 46 are welded to an inverted U-shaped frame 48 removably secured as at 49 and 13 respectively to the sides of the dispensing chute 5 and the frame members 2 and 3 of the chassis. The scraping action of the mixing blade prevents sticking and thus assures a uniform mix.

For automatically agitating and sifting gravel and the like directly into the hopper while in rotation instead of as a separate remote operation, l provide a snap-on screen which as shown in Figure 5 comprises a cylinder 50 open at both of its ends, provided with a screen 51 at its bottom end and with downwardly opening spring fingers 52 secured to its side walls. By means of the Y prising a stationary base, =a prime'mover mounted upon the b ase and operatively coupled with power transmission means mounted Yupon the base, a chassis supported t by a single wheel at one of its ends and adapted thereby to be moved toward and away from said base, laterally spaced apart means carried by and elevated from the base and adapted to engage the opposite end of the chassis for centralizng the chassis relative to said power transmission means, a mixing hopper rotatably mounted upon the chassis by a shaft extending rearwardiy, therefrom and means carried by said shaft and engageable with means'actuated by said power transmission means for imparting rotation to said hopper upon engagement of said opposite end of the chassis with said laterally spaced apart chassis engaging and centralizing means.

2. A combination mixer and portable dispenser comprising a stationary base, an electric motor mounted upon the base and in electrical circuit with a switch carried by the base in an elevated position relative thereto and supplied with electrical energy from a source, power transmission means mounted upon the base and operatively coupled with said motor, a chassis supported by a single Wheel at one of its ends and adapted thereby 4f to be moved toward and away from said stationary base, said chassis including upwardly and rearwardly diverging structural members, laterally spaced apart means carried by and elevated from the base and adapted to engage said diverging structural members to therebycentralize the chassis relative to said power transmission means and at the same time locate one of said structural members in contact with said switch to close the electrical circuit therethrough to energize said motor, a mixing hopper rotatably mounted upon the chassis by a shaft extending rearwardly therefrom, and means carried by said shaft and engageable with means actuated by said power'transmission means for imparting rotation to said hopper upon energization of the motor by the closing of said switch.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Y Gaertner Nov. 12, 

